In a 1999 article examining Christian-Muslim relations in modern
Egypt, David Zeidan made the following observation:

History registers the existence of two religious communities in
Egypt for over thirteen centuries, sharing in the same
Egyptian-Arab-Islamic culture in spite of their differences. The
relationship between them is based on Islamic concepts and has
experienced many ups and downs. Sadly, at the end of the twentieth
century it seems that both traditional and modern tools for
conflict resolution between them have failed.(1)

More recent articles published in the International Review of
Mission verify Zeidan's discouraging assessment. (2) Indeed,
violent episodes have marred interreligious relations well into the
twenty-first century. (3)

In 1968, however, a notable interruption in Egypt's sometimes
overt, sometimes sublimated interreligious tensions occurred from an
entirely unexpected source--the alleged appearance of the Blessed Virgin
Mary to more than a quarter of a million people in Cairo. This
phenomenon, which is arguably one of the most startling religious events
of the twentieth century, bore much fruit in the way of piety among
Egyptian Muslims and Christians alike. Their renewed sense of piety led
the thousands gathered at any given time during the period of
apparitions to join "in communal ecumenical [and interreligious]
prayer vigils and religious celebrations" marking "the first
time that anyone could remember Moslems and Christians worshipping
together in Egypt." (4)

This phenomenon, I believe, deserves serious consideration by those
engaged in formal dialogue for many reasons. Most importantly for this
essay, it opens the possibility of a common, unifying model and
patroness--a concrete symbol of goals shared by Muslims and Christians
engaged in dialogue--that would enhance our spirit of friendship and
help to clarify our purposes. While this essay does not allow for the
lengthy investigation necessary to make definitive recommendations, I
hope to provide evidence of the great benefits that a
"mariological" symbol could provide by first examining the
historical phenomenon referenced above within the context of
Egypt's interreligious history, then proceeding to a more abstract
discussion of the connection between Marian spirituality and the ideals
of dialogue within the doctrinal context of each tradition.

A Short History of Muslim-Christian Relations in Egypt

The Coptic ("Egyptian") Orthodox Church comprised the
majority of Egypt's population when Arab armies entered the country
in 642 C.E. under the leadership of 'Amr ibn al-'As. By the
end of the tenth century Islam was the majority religion and remains so
to this day.(5) Precise religious demographics are difficult to procure:
"According to the 1976 census, the percentage of Christians in
Egypt was 6.2%. Many Christians feel this is not a fair representation,
and the Orthodox Church claimed an unofficial membership of 8 million,
or nearly 22% of the population of 36.6 million in 1976." (6)

Although, generally speaking, the social and economic status of
Christians and Muslims has been fairly comparable throughout
Egypt's history, relations between the two populations have been
mixed from the beginning. Conventional scholarly opinion up through the
1980's suggested that the Copts, who were in disagreement over
doctrinal matters with the rest of Byzantium, welcomed Islam as a
liberator from their Byzantine persecutors. More recent studies of
seventh-century Coptic documents, however, have convincingly refuted
this theory:

The History of the Patriarchs as well as the other texts show that
relations between the Copts and their Muslim rulers were mainly
good, and that the patriarchs were respected as holy men. On the
other hand, the History of the Patriarchs also reports that the
Copts were attacked under Patriarch Isaac (686-689): crosses were
destroyed, and polemical statements against the doctrines of
Incarnation and Trinity were written on the doors of churches.
Furthermore, the Panegyric calls the Muslims 'oppressors'. This
evidence suggests that the idea that the Copts received the Muslims
as liberators is no longer tenable. (7)

It seems that the Copts considered themselves beleaguered spectators as they watched the Romans and Arabs battle for their
homeland. Finally, the Copts unenthusiastically signed a peace treaty
agreeing to accept the protection of the Arabs. (8) In some respects the
Copts faired well under the newly established Arab walls (authorities).
In spite of Islamic prohibitions against hiring dhimmi, (9) "Copts
... occupied most of the administrative posts, ... [and] sometimes had
full powers. The tax and accounting system continued to be in their
hands, which gave them opportunity to achieve big gains." (10) This
fact does not, however, indicate an absence of friction between the
Christian and Muslim communities. Consider, for example, the following:
(1) there were petitions made by Muslims to remove Christians from their
posts; (2) at one point the caliph, al-Mutawakkil (847-861 C.E.),
prohibited Christians from riding horses and ordered pictures of devils
or pigs and monkeys to be painted on the doors of Christian homes;
finally, (3) Christians were sometimes regarded as natural allies of
Islam's Byzantine enemies and suffered persecution because of it.
(11)

More recently, the presence (and subsequent absence) of colonial
powers in the twentieth century left Egypt in a long, painful struggle
to establish (or, rather, re-establish) a national identity. This
struggle has consistently exacerbated religious tensions as the national
government has vacillated between programs emphasizing (1) a common
pharaonic heritage, (2) ties with modern, Mediterranean Europe, (3) a
secular, pan-Arab ideology, or (4) an Egyptian Islamic state. (12) At
the same time, a number of unscrupulous politicians have used religion
to further their own agendas:

A main element in the unsteady balance of Muslim-Coptic relations
in this [twentieth] century has been the tendency of unscrupulous
politicians to manipulate the religious divide in an effort to
strengthen their own position. [For] example ... the policies of
[Anwar] Sadat who in 1980-1981 openly accused the Copts of a
conspiracy against the state in order to bolster his alliance with
the Islamic groups against the political left ... These appeals to
religion succeed for a while in diverting hostility from the
regime's real problems. (13)

This essay treats events occurring between 1967 and 1969, during
the regime of Gamal 'abd al-Nasir, whose Free Officer's
Revolution overthrew the Egyptian monarchy in 1952 and sought to create
a secular, pan-Arab state: "While religion was not by any means a
central part of [Nasser's] ideology, he was able to use it to
consolidate his leadership position." (14) This meant courting the
majority-Muslim population and using religion to "buttress
nationalism, socialism and the one-party 'popular
democracy'." (15)

Coptic Christian Mary Khair was a young woman busily making wedding
plans for her marriage to Dr. Gamil Khair in the late1960's in
Cairo. She generously offered her personal reflections about that time
during an interview conducted by this author. (16) Her memories support
the above reports of Egyptian political manipulation, recalling for
example a fiction about an anti-Muslim, Jewish-Christian alliance that
circulated among and was commonly believed by Egyptian Muslims. (17) She
also recalled some attacks on Christian churches in Upper Egypt, noting
that these were fueled by Muslim extremists (namely, the Muslim
Brotherhood) and not supported by the Egyptian government, the latter
being very concerned with keeping the civil peace.

By contrast, Mary Khair's memories paint a rather pleasant
picture regarding the day-to-day life of the Muslims and Christians in
her neighborhood. In her apartment building on Tomanbey Street, there
were three Christian and seven Muslim residences. Here people lived and
worked together peacefully, exchanging holiday greetings, and forming
friendships in a wholesome atmosphere marred only by the more subtle
religious discrimination one encounters as a minority wishing to be
promoted in an economic system that favors the majority. Formal tokens
of goodwill and cooperation between Muslim and Christian religious
leaders were expressed as the Coptic Pope and Muslim dignitaries
regularly received each other during their respective religious
holidays. It seems, however, that, while personal friendships certainly
did and still do exist, the widespread acceptance of rumors about
anti-Muslim activity among Christians indicated a rather precarious
civility between the two communities on the whole.

The one venue that appears to have provided Christians and Muslims
in Egypt a consistent religious bond is the veneration or honor of the
persons of the Holy Family, particularly Mary. (18) For example, Khair
tells of the friendship between her mother and a Muslim woman who had
asked for the Blessed Virgin's intercession when the woman's
daughter was ill. The daughter recovered and the Muslim woman
accompanied the Khair family to the Divine Liturgy every August 21 (the
Coptic Feast of the Assumption) to thank the Blessed Virgin for her
help.

In addition, because (according to Christian and Muslim tradition)
Egypt was the land to which the Holy Family fled during Herod's
persecution, there are many pilgrimage sites honoring the events and
places associated with the Holy Family's exile. Although the trail
(which begins with sites commemorating their entrance into northern
Egypt and extends along the Nile to the governate of Assiut, 327
kilometers south of Cairo) is dotted with Christian churches and
monasteries, in Khair's estimation every Muslim who has a Christian
friend has visited these holy places. (19) Perhaps this openness to
common veneration of the Holy Family paved the way for the astounding
religious events of 1968.

A Description of the Apparitions of Zeitoun

The year 1968 began on a singularly low note for Egyptians, who had
been defeated by Israel in the Six-Day War in June, 1967. The defeat was
quite unexpected and "played a critical role in the reemergence of
religious sentiment in Egypt, as Egyptians felt they were being punished
for their lack of faith." (20) Historian Morroe Berger observed,
"During Ramadan a few months after the war of June 1967... the
government-owned press published more religious discussion than in
previous annual observances of this holy month." (21) Because
Christians were accused of espionage during the Six-Day War,
interreligious tensions had also increased. Anthropologist Cynthia
Nelson, an instructor at the American University in Cairo during this
turbulent time, summarized the situation:

[T]ensions between Muslims and Copts intensified to such a degree
that Nasser made a public speech about the bravery and courage and
patriotism of the Christian soldiers to discourage the Muslim
Brotherhood from casting blame on the Copts. Even close friends, as
1 was told by one informant, began to doubt each other when it came
to the question of religion. (22)

It was within this atmosphere of national discouragement and
religious mistrust that three Muslim mechanics, Farouk Mohammed Atwa,
Hussein Awwad, and Yacout Ali Mocamoun, reported for their late-night
shifts on April 2, 1968, at a municipal garage located across the street
from St. Mary's Coptic Church, at the corner of Tomanbey Street and
Khalil Lane in the Cairo suburb of Zeitoun. (23) At some point during
that night, Atwa happened to look across the street to the church and
saw a woman standing on its roof. Alarmed for her safety, he pointed at
her and called for her to come down. Atwa was joined by the other two
workers, but all three quickly realized that the woman was not actually
standing on, but floating above, the domes of the church and appeared to
glow. They awoke the rector of St. Mary's Church, who immediately
recognized the woman as the Blessed Virgin.

By this time a small crowd had gathered and began to shout praises
to the Blessed Virgin as the mysterious woman bowed in apparent
acknowledgement. Her identification rests on the crowd's
association of the woman with typical artistic depictions of Mary, the
apparition's silent acknowledgement of the crowd's praises,
and the fact that her appearances, which continued for the next fourteen
months, occurred "most frequently early Sunday morning and on the
32 Marian feast days in the Coptic Church calendar." (24)

There were more than seventy recorded apparitions occurring over
the domes and in the courtyard of St. Mary's Church throughout the
next fourteen months, so that the site became one of pilgrimage for
Muslims, Christians, the curious of other faiths, and those who had no
faith at all. The size of nightly crowds averaged approximately 10,000
people and at times swelled to 100,000, so that the total number of
people who saw the Marian apparitions is estimated between 250,000 and
500,000. (25) Testimonies have been taken from doctors, architects,
engineers, members of the mass media, and government officials,
including Egypt's Minister of Labor and President Nasser, himself.
(26)

Initially, city officials were alarmed by the large crowds and,
assuming the luminous apparitions to be a hoax, disconnected or broke
all the street lights in the surrounding area to eliminate possible
sources of reflected or projected light. (27) The apparitions and crowds
persisted, however, and investigative committees were soon formed by
Pope Kyrillos VI of the Coptic Church, Patriarch Stephanos I of the
Catholic Copts, and the General Information and Complaints Department of
the Egyptian Government, under the direction of Minister Hafez Ghanem.
Each issued formal reports verifying the apparitions. (28) The following
statement is taken from the government report:

[O]fficial investigations have been carried out with the result
that it has been considered an undeniable fact that the Blessed
Virgin Mary has been appearing at the Coptic Orthodox Church at
Zeitoun in a clear and bright luminous seen by all present in front
of the church whether Christian or Moslem. (29)

Many pilgrims to the site reported spontaneous physical healings,
spurring the Coptic Church to set up an additional team of seven medical
doctors, headed by Dr. Shafik Abdel Malek, to review reportedly
miraculous claims, many of which defied natural explanation. (30) The
most famous of these, made by the phenomenon's first witness,
Farouk Mohammed Atwa, was reported in the April 21, 1968, issue of the
Egyptian periodical, Watani. (31) Apparently, the finger that Atwa used
to point to the figure above the church was to have been amputated the
following day because of infection. However, when his doctors examined
it on April 3, they found that it had been completely healed and
cancelled the operation.

There were at least ten different recorded types of apparitions,
all of which seemed to have a Marian orientation. The woman appeared in
partial and full figure, extending gestures of blessing to the crowd,
sometimes bowing to the crosses that adorned the church domes, sometimes
carrying an olive branch or the baby Jesus, but never speaking. (32) All
of the apparitions were accompanied by paranormal lights that sometimes
shot across the sky. There were also descriptions of sweet-smelling,
reddish-colored clouds, which emerged and dissipated with unnatural
rapidity and luminous dove-like birds passing swiftly and noiselessly through the air. All of the apparitions occurred at night, some lasting
only a few minutes, others lasting for several hours. The longest began
at 9 p.m. on June 8, 1968 and lasted until approximately 4:30 a.m. on
June 9. (33)

An Exploration of the Significance of the Apparitions of Zeitoun

The apparitions of Zeitoun were unusual within the long and
prolific history of Marian apparitions in that they were silent. (34) It
is reasonable to think that this silence in some way contributed to
Mary's purposes, and that, in light of the presence of doves and
the extension of an olive branch--widely acknowledged symbols of
peace--as well as gestures of blessing bestowed on all present, her
purposes may well have been focused on bringing peace to a community
fraught with sectarian tensions. The appearance of the Blessed Virgin
Mary would seem particularly appropriate to such a cause, as both
Christians and Muslims revere her. However, it is important to note that
each religious tradition has a very different understanding of her story
and significance. (35) Therefore, one could speculate that, while
Mary's silent appearance might bring out noble sentiments in each
group as they interpreted the event within the context of their
respective traditions, a verbal message might have risked favoring one
group over the other and thus have aggravated existing hostilities. (36)

It is interesting to note that Mary's actions did, indeed,
lend themselves to radically different interpretations, which had in
common a general call to piety and peaceful cohabitation. For example,
the figure of Mary carrying the child, Jesus, was significant for both
Christians and Muslims. To Christians, such a sight would be likely to
recall the tender vulnerability of Christ's humanity and a flood of
associated doctrines about God's solicitous love for the world. To
Muslims, the same image would be likely to recall Sura 19 in which the
Blessed Virgin of Islam showed her newborn child to a hostile crowd. The
child dispelled the crowd's hostilities and introduced himself as a
great prophet sent to show people the way to God. Drastic differences
notwithstanding, there would be, in each association, a call for peace
and piety. Mary's gesture of bowing to the crosses atop the church
was also open to noble interpretations from each tradition. While
Christians might have understood the gesture as a validation of
Christ's crucifixion and its theological significance, Muslims
could have understood it as a call to respect the "people of the
book." The question is, then, how did the local community respond
to the event?

Nelson, who was teaching in Cairo at the time of the apparitions,
witnessed the events and conducted her own study of local reactions. She
has observed that the Blessed Virgin "as the Magna Mater ...
symbolizes for the Egyptians--both Christian and Muslim alike--a
succoring, protective mother, the great prototype of the universal human
experience, who has the power to banish chaos and restore the benign
shape of the world." (37) She made the following pertinent
observations:

In the minds of most Egyptians the apparition is connected to the
Six-Day War of June, 1967, in which Egypt suffered a military
defeat that left the country in despair and its people confronting
perhaps the severest crisis in their contemporary history .... To
most Egyptians the appearance of the Virgin was initially a sign of
hope.., the Virgin had come to the Egyptians to restore faith in
God and give hope and moral support to the defeated, perhaps even
to lead the Egyptians to victory over the modern-day Herods. That
is, during the initial months the Virgin was seen as a collective
symbol for all Egyptians. The attitude of those who went to Zeitoun
at this time was one of organized communal supplication toward the
supernatural of a people seeking divine guidance at a time when
there seemed to be no visible way out of a hopeless situation. (38)

Nelson's findings indicate that, although Mary's person
and story are understood and appropriated differently within Christian
and Muslim traditions, members of each group present at the apparitions
saw in her person and story an illustration of certain commonly-held
principles fundamental to peaceful cohabitation and respectful dialogue.
(39) They can he summarized as follows: (1) faith in a God who is
concerned for God's people and is the supreme power, shaper of, and
hope for human destiny; and (2) acknowledgement of the already existing
bond of our common humanity/human experience. Thus, the Blessed Virgin
functioned as a symbol of unity, peace, and hope, bringing Muslims and
Christians together in a solidarity previously unknown in this
community.

In addition to underscoring the aforementioned principles, the
Marian apparitions of Zeitoun inspired a corresponding dramatic increase
in piety that had a profoundly positive influence on ethical behavior.
(40) Khair's memories attest to a special atmosphere of devotion
and piety. She and her family were parishioners at St. Mary's
Church and lived in the same neighborhood. While she was careful to
acknowledge the differences in reactions among those she knew, stating
that increased piety was not a universal phenomenon, she also recalled
an atmosphere that became very "biblical" because of the
constant presence of people praying and awaiting healing. Ronald
Bullivant, an Anglican correspondent for Eastern Churches Review who
made a pilgrimage to Zeitoun during the time of the apparitions, agreed
with Khair's description: "The atmosphere was deeply spiritual
and one seemed to be back in the days of our Lord, surrounded by those
who had been healed of broken limbs, cancer, blindness, and the
like." (41)

According to Khair, this was not the reaction that government
officials expected. Apparently, as Nelson's article confirms, they
were quite nervous about the possibility of civil unrest arising from
the large gatherings. Fortunately, the apparitions inspired the opposite
reaction. Bullivant, who made his visit during the month of Ramadan, was
deeply impressed by the interreligious harmony he encountered: "As
soon as we arrived we became aware of the background of singing and the
chanting of litanies and prayers offered by individual groups of Copts,
Greeks, Latins, and Muslims, who crowded the ground immediately
surrounding the church." (42)

Bullivant's article relates one interesting interreligious
encounter, described to him by a respected Muslim Hadji who lived along
the path taken by pilgrims to St. Mary's Church. The man explained
that at first he did not believe in the apparitions and shouted at
pilgrims passing by his home, occasionally even throwing rocks at them
and threatening to call the police. Then, according to the man's
story, Mary appeared to him and begged him to stop abusing the pilgrims.
She further instructed him to paint a cross on his house. The man--who
remains a devout Muslim--said that he became convinced of the
authenticity of the Zeitoun apparitions, ceased his previous behavior,
and painted forty large white crosses all around his home. (43)

The above testimonies unanimously indicate the power of the Marian
symbol to unite and harmonize Muslims and Christians. Significant
doctrinal differences notwithstanding, Muslim and Christian traditions
revere the Blessed Virgin Mary as a sort of ambassador for God's
Word--one who bears God's revelation (which, for Christians, is the
Person of Christ) to God's people. I would suggest that those
engaged in formal dialogue recognize and draw upon this phenomenon in a
manner that coincides with each tradition's established belief
systems.

The remainder of this essay will be devoted to an exploration of
some ways in which Mary embodies the principles identified in
Nelson's study and others important to dialogue within specifically
Catholic Christian and Sunni Muslim contexts. The works of Hans Urs von
Balthasar (Catholic) and Allah Schleifer (Sunni) will serve as points of
departure. First, however, it is necessary to define terms by making
some preliminary remarks about the nature of dialogue and corresponding
expectations.

Dialogue, Mission, and Da 'wah: Definitions and
Presuppositions

Because the above terms are open to many different interpretations,
it is appropriate to identify their meaning within the context of this
essay, thus setting the parameters of this discussion. I will be
assuming that "Christianity and Islam have in common the fact
that.., they are missionary religions," (44) that "mission and
Da'wah form the cornerstone" of each tradition, (45) and that
a "common theme between the two religions is the urgency to reach
others in order to offer something precious which the others need to
have." (46) This sense of mission is the raison d'etre for the
Christian community, which was commanded by Christ to go into the world
and make disciples of all nations (see Mt. 28:19-20 and Jn. 17:18). For
Muslims, Sura 16:125, "Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom
and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way" makes
da'wah "integral to Islam." (47)

While there is room for disagreement on the issue, for the purposes
of this essay, I will assume that mission and da'wah are
inseparable from dialogue, because dialogue "is not possible unless
a partner has a genuine point of view and something to offer." (48)
As stated by Khurram Murad, "[T]here is no point to entering into
dialogue unless it is Da'wah." (49) Thus, "Muslims
generally argue that dialogue comes under the broad spectrum of
Da'wah." (50)

The pontifical document, Dialogue and Proclamation: Reflection and
Orientation on Interreligious Dialogue and the Proclamation of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ presents a similar point of view. (51)
Proclamation of the gospel and dialogue, it states, are "both
viewed, each in its own place, as component elements and authentic forms
of the one evangelizing mission of the Church. They are both oriented
towards the communication of salvific truth" (no. 2). Therefore,
dialogue, although distinct from proclamation, must never be separated
from it. Indeed, dialogue is only legitimately practiced if it is a
dialogue of salvation (no. 39), for the "foundation of the
Church's commitment to dialogue is not merely anthropological but
primarily theological" (no. 38).

Finally Murad has said that, when entering into dialogue,
Christians and Muslims may "have the same purpose and so long as we
are not out to impose our views.., or use any means which would fall
under the category of exploiting human beings ... Da 'wah is and
should be a part of dialogue. This is true for both the parties."
(52)

The distinction he draws between evangelical efforts and
exploitation points toward another important attitude shared by
Christians and Muslims. Each tradition attributes actual religious
conversion (whether referring to deeper conviction within their
respective belief systems or change to a differing belief system) to the
power of God. Therefore, the Muslim is to argue his case "and never
give up that God may guide his fellow-man to the truth," but
"[i]f the non-Muslim is still not convinced, the Muslim is to rest
his case with God." (53) With similar rhetoric, Dialogue and
Proclamation instructs Christians to realize that it is the Holy Spirit
who works in the hearts of all humanity and that such realization
implies humble, respectful conduct, free from coercion as we extend an
"invitation" to belief in the gospel message (no. 10).

These ideas are rooted in the notion that God is truly working in
the lives of people of different faiths. Thus, the second half of Sura
16:125 referenced above states: "Lo! The Lord is best aware of him
who strayeth from His way, and He is best aware of those who go
aright." This is also the reason that Dialogue and Proclamation
affirms "the universal action of the Holy Spirit in the world
before the Christian dispensation, to which it was ordained, and
referring to the universal action of the same Spirit today, even outside
the visible body of the Church" (no. 26).

Such attitudes give preeminence to obedience to God, personal
holiness, and prayer within the dialogue process. If we are to be
God's instruments in the pursuit of divine truth, we must submit
and open our hearts to God. For believers of these respective faiths,
this is much more than a tangential observation--that is, something we
really "ought" to do when preparing for dialogue, but
something that fades into the background during the actual event while
we focus on more academic, social, political, and economic issues. To
the contrary, successfully addressing these and other concerns discussed
during formal Muslim-Christian dialogues requires a conscious awareness
of humanity's working in the service of God, under God's
guidance and power. I also submit that, as human beings universally
vulnerable to sin, we require some kind of concrete, recognized symbol
of our holy intentions. The person and character of the Blessed Virgin
can fill this need in a uniquely powerful way.

Because the story of Mary and its theological implications differ
between Christianity and Islam, each community would have to appropriate
this symbol in its own manner. The following is a brief sample of ways
in which this could be done. It is my hope that the discussion presented
here may inspire a more detailed effort in the future.

Balthasar's work provides an example of theological
justification for a Marian approach to dialogue from a Catholic point of
view. His thoughts on the topic are a logical extension of a complex
series of interrelated ideas rooted in a trinitarian theology, which is
accessible through the Son's incarnation and involves the entire
human race in a journey from a common origin to a common destiny in God:
the "Trinity, guiding and fashioning the world drama, draws it into
itself." (54) For Balthasar, this-worldly peace and prosperity are
worthy goals for and expected consequences of dialogue, but they are
secondary to dialogue's ultimate goal, which is to facilitate
humanity's movement toward our supernatural end:

[I]f all men are called to supernatural salvation, grace must be
active in them in some sense or other; that a dialogue between
Christian and non-Christian is possible and necessary within that
grace; that not only the historical world, but the whole biological
genesis of the Cosmos belongs in God's world plan and must be
created and ordered towards the anakephalairsis of all things in
Christ, towards the entire Kingdom of God. (55)

Evident in the above quotation is Balthasar's insistence that
God is operating throughout all of history in all of humanity and that
God's divine work is the primary reason for, focus of, and power
behind humankind's journey from origin to final destiny. (56) It is
worth noting, at this point, that such a point of view is in harmony
with the following statement from Dialogue and Proclamation: "[T]he
Church's commitment to dialogue ... flows from God's
initiative in entering into a dialogue with humankind and from the
example of Jesus Christ whose life, death and resurrection gave to that
dialogue its ultimate expression" (no. 53). God is the One,
universalizing principle. Therefore, while "Balthasar's
thought is an open thought which grows in a dialogue and risks dialogue
in all directions: with ... the contemporary spirit [and] ... the major
world religions" he is, above all, "in dialogue with the
'Word' itself." (57)

Because Balthasar's vision of dialogue (its purpose and power)
rests on a complete openness/surrender to God's grace, a
specifically Marian ecclesiology proves imperative. He insists,
"Petrine universality is subject to the formative influence of the
Marian but not vice versa." (58) That is, the Marian principle
forms the mystical core of the Church--that which is entirely open to
the grace of the Holy Spirit, receiving God with complete docility to
God's will, and bearing the fruit of God's will in the world.
(590

At least three criteria for Christian-Muslim dialogue follow from
placing such emphasis on a Marian ecclesiology: (1) the recognition of
the primacy of God's initiative in our endeavors, (2) a powerful
sense of solidarity with and compassion for the entire human race, and
(3) a focus on prayer and personal holiness as a fundamental and
essential prerequisite for success.

Mary's fiat was a total surrender to God, allowing her to be
"an open womb" that "teaches mankind, in her and with
her, to be similarly open." (60) She became an instrument, indeed a
living conduit, through whom God worked (and in the Catholic mind, still
works) miracles, entering human history and calling humanity to fulfill
our supernatural destiny. Balthasar observed that "nowhere is
Mary's whole cast of mind more present" than that scriptural passage wherein she instructs the wine-stewards at the wedding feast of
Cana to "'Do whatever he [Christ] tells you.'" (61)
Similarly, we who engage in dialogue acknowledge that it is rooted in
God's initiative and say to ourselves and those at the table with
us, "Do whatever he tells you."

It should be noted that this is not a merely passive submission.
Mary's instruction is not simply a matter of "submission to
the will of God," still less of cluttering up the space with
conventional well-wishing; rather, it is the will to retreat into the
background and make possible the encounter between human need and divine
grace. "Letting it be" is not the same as letting things go.
It is not bursting through restraints; rather, it is making room for the
other (be it God or human or both) to act freely. (62)

Mary's radical surrender to the overshadowing of the Holy
Spirit and the indwelling of the Divine Word makes Marian spirituality
universal as God is universal. (63) As one who is filled with the love
of a God who loves and draws all humanity to Godself, Mary exists in a
state of intense solidarity with the rest of humankind and is therefore
attentive to our needs. (64) This is illustrated at the wedding feast as
she is sensitive to the need for more wine and takes the action
necessary to solve the problem by petitioning her son. The result of her
action is both more wine and a closer relationship with God for those
who have obeyed her son. The ability to act out of love for God and
neighbor opens our eyes to needs we might otherwise overlook, and the
ability to take action as God's instrument produces the most
efficient, effective results.

As we respond to the needs of those around us, we must first ask
ourselves, in true humility and honesty, what action our God would wish
us to take, maintaining vigilance against actions that may be more
self-serving than other-serving. Mary's example during the wedding
feast as well as the passages during which she "ponders" (Lk.
2:1 9 and 52) the facts of her life without fully understanding them
provides a model for preserving a balance between the use of natural
gifts (in this case, intellectual assessment) and respect for mystery.
She takes action during the wedding feast--but only in cooperation with
God's will. She uses her reason to explore God's mysteries but
does not pretend more knowledge than she has, willingly surrendering to
divine guidance. (65) She shows us both the courage of proclamation and
the humility of obedience and wonder.

Finally, if the Holy Spirit is the universalizing principle of the
Church, the One who allows us to say "we," then being filled
with the Holy Spirit is imperative to any effort to reach out to other
people. (66) However, to the degree that we are sinful, we are not
filled with the Holy Spirit. This is why Balthasar contends that Mary,
who is immaculate, is the perfect vessel for the Holy Spirit, the one
who leads us out of the isolation of sin and into the loving solidarity
of holiness--a solidarity that embraces the suffering of others and
becomes a "citadel of compassion." (67) All of this
underscores the necessity of prayer and the enthusiastic use of the
means available to us whereby we increase in holiness. If we fail to
take this aspect of Christian life seriously, we diminish our access to
the source of love and wisdom on which we depend to assess and address
human needs accurately.

For Catholics, then, formally adopting Mary as a patroness and
guide in Christian-Muslim dialogue seems a logical and powerful step to
further our success. She is a unique role-model for those with universal
interests. However, the external form this might take during the
dialogue process would, of course, have to recognize Muslim
sensibilities, some of which will now be examined.

Aliah Schleifer 's "Blessed Virgin of Islam" and
Dialogue

Although Schleifer does not address the issues of interreligious
dialogue directly, her book, Mary, the Blessed Virgin of Islam, provides
an apt point of departure for this discussion as it "illustrates
the revered position that the Virgin Mary holds in the thought of Sunni
Islam, as well as the respect and veneration with which ordinary Muslims
regard her." (68) Schleifer's Marian study provides some
excellent answers to specific Muslim concerns regarding interreligious
dialogue, namely, maintaining "the centrality of God [as] the prime
motivator in dialogue" and the recommended methods for implementing
dialogue and da 'wah, which include striving for personal holiness.
(69)

Schleifer observed that "Mary as the image of submission is
symbolic of the religion itself and furnishes an eternal theological
model for all those who follow the teachings of the Qur'an."
(70) For one who wishes to maintain the centrality of God in dialogue,
she is, therefore, an appropriate role model. The Blessed Virgin of the
Qur'an was the only woman in history to have been consecrated to
the Israelite Temple. There she engaged in a period of intense prayer
and spiritual preparation for her divinely ordained mission. (71) It was
only after the solitary Mary (who was already free from sin) matured in
worship "until there was no person known at that time who
approached her in the time of worshipping" that she was visited by
the angel Gabriel who announced the great purpose of her life. (72) This
purpose was to become the virgin mother of Jesus so that God "may
make of him a revelation for mankind" (Sura 19:21), and both of
them would be "a token for (all) peoples" (Sura 21:19). Her
response to the angel's message was one of total surrender to
God's will. (73)

Already, many lessons pertaining to dialogue emerge. Mary was to
bear a revelation for all of humankind and was only able to do so
because of her great prayer life, purity, and total surrender to the
will of God. Similarly, a strong prayer life and surrender to God's
will rather than the imposition of one's own will is imperative to
the success of human efforts, which derive their significance and power
from their conformity to the divine plan. Such submission requires great
courage and trust. As Schleifer observed, "there must ... have been
an element of fear present when she questioned the angel, implying the
deep incongruity of pregnancy with her lifelong purity and devoutness.
Her subsequent surrender to conception, then, represents an act of total
faith in the Will of her Lord and her submission to it." (74)

Few, if any persons find submission of their own wills to
God's anything but difficult, yet it is imperative, for it is God
who initiates the call to worship God and God who empowers this call.
Thus, the noun "da'wah" "occurs several times in the
Qur'an, in the reciprocal senses of God's call to humankind,
and the believers' call or prayer to God." (75) It is
important to note that such qur'anic passages make known God's
will to gather all to God's truth. Believers, therefore, have a
responsibility to engage others (both within and external to the Muslim
community) in dialogue and relationship, doing what one can to be an
instrument in this cause. (76)

Mary's life provides an excellent model for engaging others as
she enacts God's call through her pious example and reasoned
argument. (77) The former is recognized by Muslim thinkers such as
'Abd al-Salam Muhammad Badawi, who proclaimed, "'The
heart of the Virgin Mary, together with her son, calls out to any sinner
who will hear to follow the True Religion--to shed tears of repentance
for that which caused him to stray from God's Cause, and calls him
to humbleness and submission.'" (78) We see the effect that
her very presence has on others, in the traditional,
extra--qur'anic account of Mary's visit to 'Ashya'
(Elizabeth) while she is pregnant with Ya.hya (John the Baptist). The
baby prostrates himself in his mother's womb, and both accept the
witness of God's miracle.(79)

The techniques of example and reasoned discourse are both employed
by Mary as she explains the nature of her virginal conception to Joseph,
her friend and prayer companion. Joseph is alarmed at her unusual
situation but considers her purity and therefore gives Mary's story
a hearing. Mary explains the nature of her pregnancy, and Joseph is
convinced, (80) Thus, a door to dialogue was opened by Mary's piety
and fulfilled through her wise and charitable reasoning.

Reason seems ineffective when Mary confronts her community for the
first time, but she does not force the issue. Mary is not coercive.
Instead, because "not everyone was convinced, and some began to
make suspicious accusations about the cause of her condition, so Mary,
the Faithful, withdrew to a place far away from them." (81) This is
not to say that she gave up, however. After Mary gave birth, she
courageously returned to her community so that her infant might witness
to them. This time, some believed. (82)

It is important to note that, in spite of the abuses she endured
from her community, Mary remained selflessly concerned for them. This
concern stemmed from a great faith in God and is dramatically
illustrated in the account of the birth of 'Isa (Jesus). Mary was
in great pain and actually said she desired death. Her motives are
usually interpreted in the following way. She "desired death in two
respects, firstly that she feared she would be suspected of evil in her
religion and abused, and this might tempt her to lose her assurance of
faith; and secondly so that her people would not suffer because of the
slander associating her with adultery, as this would be ruinous for
them." (83) It is plain, from the above interpretation, that
Mary's own faith was more important to her than her life, but it is
also plain that the well-being of her community (especially those who
did not believe) was more important to her than her life.

I propose that, for these reasons at least (others would no doubt
surface with a more thorough examination of the issues), Mary is an
ideal and, in principle, essential model for Muslims engaged in dialogue
as a part of da'wah and as a way of addressing human need. Her
prayerful, holy example illustrates the means by which humankind
achieves genuine charity and wisdom, for, through her total surrender to
God's will, the focal point of her life became one of witness to
divine truth, which was not only for her benefit but served the needs of
others as well. Further, the form that Mary's witness took (example
and reason) corresponds perfectly to the qur'anic exhortations
concerning ways to approach those who require correction within and
outside the Muslim community.

Concluding Remarks

The bodily appearances of Mary in Zeitoun, Egypt, were able to
effect interreligious cooperation on a scale previously unheard of in
the history of Muslim-Christian relations in that country. I believe
that those engaged in formal dialogue should take note of the
phenomenon, for Mary, a person who embodies perfect obedience/submission
to God's will in both traditions is therefore also an ideal
instrument for calling humankind to God's truth. She is God's
herald--the one who reveals God's presence, power, and plan for
humanity, a humanity united in the revelation of the One Creator. If
dialogue is conceived of as a part of the evangelizing (although
noncoercive) missions of Christianity and Islam, Mary as a concrete
symbol of our common desire to serve God above all-which in turn implies
diligence in the areas of personal holiness, ethical conduct, and
genuine service to humanity--is a powerful reminder and rallying point
for our cause.

(1) David Zeidan, "The Copts--Equal, Protected, or Persecuted?
The Impact of Islamization on Muslim-Christian Relations in Modern
Egypt," Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 10 (March, 1999): 63.

(3) The post-Mubarak religious violence that culminated in the
burning of the Virgin Mary Church in Imbaba in Cairo on May 7, 2011, and
the murder of six Coptic worshipers outside their church in Cairo on
Christmas Day in 2010 (in January, the Coptic Christmas) were just two
of many similar incidents that have been widely covered. See, e.g.,
"Cairo: Muslims and Christians Clash in Imbaba," on the BBC news website at http://www.bbc.eo.uk/news/world-middle-east-13325448.
Unfortunately, interfaith violence (primarily against Copts) seems to
have increased since 2011. See, e.g., Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, "In
Egypt, Christian-Muslim Tension Is on the Rise" (National Public
Radio), available at
http://www.npr.org/2012/O2/25/147370689/in-egypt.christian.muslim.tension_is-on-the-rise. It should be noted that there have also been recorded
incidents of brave interreligious cooperation; see, e.g., Yasmin
El-Rashidi, "Egypt's Muslims Attend Coptic Christmas Mass,
Serving as 'Human Shields,'" printed by Ahramonline and
available at http://english.ahram.org.eg/ News/3365.aspx. In addition,
there was interfaith cooperation as Christians protected praying Muslims
from riot police during the 2011 protests in Tahrir Square. See
"Images of Solidarity as Christians Join Hands to Protect Muslims
as They Pray during Cairo Protests," Daily Mail Reporter, available
at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353330/Egypt-protests-Christians-join-handsprotect-Muslims-pray-Cairo-protests.html. Such incidents
offer bright glimmers of hope for the future.

(4) Victor DeVincenzo, "The Apparitions at Zeitoun, Egypt: An
Historical Overview," The Journal of Religion and Psychical
Research 11 (January, 1988): 5. It should be noted that the
interreligious "worship" to which the author refers consisted
of Muslims and Christians who stood side-by-side in a crowd, reciting
prayers from their own traditions.

(5) Makari, "Christianity and Islam," p. 89.

(6) Ibid. The website for the Central Intelligence Agency states
that 90% of Egyptians are Muslim (mostly Sunni); 9%, Coptic; and 1%,
other Christian traditions; see
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html.

(7) From Harold Suermann, "Copts and the Islam of the Seventh
Century," in Emmanouela Grypeou, Mark Swanson, and David Thomas,
eds., The Encounter of Eastern Christianity with Early Islam, The
History of Christian-Muslim Relations 5 (Leiden, and Boston, MA: Brill,
2006), p. 109. Also see Jacques Tagher, Christians in Muslim Egypt: An
Historical Study of the Relations between Copts and Muslims from 640 to
1922, tr. Ragai N. Makar, Arbeiten zum spatantiken und koptischen
Agypten 10 (Altenberge, Germany: Oros Verlag, 1998), pp. 28-29.

(8) Tagher, Christians in Muslim Egypt, pp. 33-35.

(9) Non-Muslims who were afforded a protected status within Muslim
territories.

(10) Ibid., p. 82.

(11) Ibid., pp. 82-87.

(12) Both Makari and Zeidan provide overviews of these trends.

(13) Zeidan, "The Copts," pp. 54-55; political
manipulation of religious sentiments is also discussed by Makari and
throughout Morroe Berger, Islam in Egypt Today: Social and Political
Aspects of Popular Religion (Cambridge, U.K., and New York: At the
University Press, 1970).

(14) Makari, "Christianity and Islam," p. 94.

(15) Berger, Islam in Egypt Today, p. 61.

(16) Interview with Mary Khair of Milwaukee, WI, by author,
February 11, 2004, in Milwaukee.

(17) The fiction to which Mary Khair alludes was perpetuated by
both political and religious sources. One example of this conscious
perpetuation can be found in the popular and influential sermons of
Shaykhs al-sh'rawl [1911-98], which consistently characterized
Christians as crusaders allied to the Jews in attacking Islam. See
Zeidan, "The Copts," p. 62. Also, note that tensions following
the Six-Day War of 1967 rose to such a degree that Nasser felt compelled
to extol the virtues of Christian soldiers so as to discourage attacks
on Coptic Christians by Muslim extremists. See note 21, below.

(18) Mustafa al Bakri, a Sufi saint, also received reverence from
both Christians and Muslims in Egypt during the mid-eighteenth century.
Interreligious devotion to Mary and the Holy Family is, however, more
widespread. For commentary on both, see Cynthia Nelson, "The Virgin
of Zeitoun," Worldview 16 (September, 1973): 9.

(19) The history of these sites is drawn from early Christian
tradition and the mystical visions of Pope Theophilus, the twenty-third
Patriarch of Alexandria [384-412 C.E.]. It, along with a map and
photographs of the sites is supplied by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism
in their 1999 book, The Holy Family in Egypt. In addition, Allah
Schleifer records a common, although not universal agreement among
Muslim historians and religious thinkers with the Coptic rendition of
the Holy Family's travels in Egypt. See Aliah Schleifer, Mary the
Blessed Virgin of Islam (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 1997), p. 40.
Finally, Nelson makes note of the fact that these sites are frequented
by both Christians and Muslims (Nelson, "Virgin," p. 9).

(20) Makari, "Christianity and Islam," p. 95.

(21) Berger, Islam in Egypt Today, p. 75.

(22) Nelson, "Virgin," p. 10.

(23) Details of the story of Mary's appearances in Zeitoun are
reported in several of the sources cited in this essay. See DeVincenzo,
"Apparitions"; Nelson, "Virgin"; Ronald Bullivant,
"The Visions of the Mother of God at Zeitun," Eastern Churches
Review, vol. 3 (1970-71), pp. 74-76; and Roy Abraham Varghese, God-Sent:
A History of Accredited Apparitions of Mary (New York: Crossroad
Publishing Co., 2000), p. 85.

(24) DeVincenzo, "Apparitions," p. 5.

(25) See ibid., p. 4; and Bullivant, "Visions," p. 76.

(26) Testimonies are referenced throughout the DeVincenzo, Nelson,
and Bullivant articles.

(27) Nelson, "Virgin," pp. 5-6.

(28) Excerpts of the reports by Pope Kyrillos and the government
commission in English are included in DeVincenzo's
"Apparitions." For an approving quotation from Patriarch
Stephanos I, see Varghese, God-Sent, p. 86. A statement of approval from
the papal residence in Cairo is also available online at
http://zeitun-eg.org/zeitounl.htm.

(31) The Watani article is cited in ibid. Atwa's cure has also
been widely reported by most who have written about the Zeitoun
apparitions.

(32) Descriptions of the apparition can be found throughout
DeVincenzo, "Apparitions," and Nelson, "Virgin." I
have also incorporated information from my interview with Mary Khair,
whose husband was an eyewitness to the events.

(33) DeVincenzo, "Apparitions," p. 5.

(34) Silent apparitions are not, however, completely unheard of.
There were, for example, silent Marian apparitions recorded in Knock,
Ireland, in 1879 and Pontmain, France, in 1871. Although, given the very
different religious and political circumstances of each apparition, the
reasons for the silence may also vary considerably. See Varghese,
God-Sent, pp. 82-84 and 106-107, for summaries of the apparitions of
Knock and Pontmain.

(35) For a comparison of the two narratives and their respective
theological significances, see Maura Hearden, "Ambassador for the
Word: Mary as a Bridge for Dialogue between Catholicism and Islam,"
J.E.S. 41 (Winter, 2004): 18-38.

(36) There are, of course, other possible explanations. Perhaps she
was silent in anticipation of pilgrims from other parts of the world who
would witness her apparitions but spoke other languages and so could not
have understood a verbal message. Or perhaps she was using the unique
power of silence to attract the attention of a noisy, distracted world.
We would have to ask her to know for sure.

(37) Nelson, "Virgin," p. 9.

(38) lbid, p. 8.

(39) Again, for a more thorough examination of Mary as a Fens
through which to discover various theological positions, see Hearden,
"Ambassador for the Word."

(40) It is worth noting, at this point, DeVincenzo's statement
regarding the novelty of Muslim-Christian communal prayer related at
note 4, above.

(41) Bullivant, "Visions," p. 75. It is worth noting
that, as Bullivant's article points out, the demographics of the
area resulted in crowds comprised of a majority of Muslims.

(45) Ataullah Siddiqui, Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the Twentieth
Century (Basingstoke, Hamps., U.K., and New York: Palgrave Macmillan;
and New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), p. 70.

(46) Ibid., p. 70. This sentiment is also expressed in the
editorial of International Review of Mission 65 (October, 1976): 373.

(47) Siddiqui, Christian-Muslim Dialogue, p. 70. All qur'anic
translations in this essay are taken from Mohammed Marmaduke Piekthall,
The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Penguin Group, n.d.).

(48) Siddiqui, Christian-Muslim Dialogue, p. 76.

(49) As quoted in ibid., p. 76.

(50) lbid., p. 75.

(51) Pontifical Council for lnterreligious Dialogue, Dialogue and
Proclamation: Reflection and Orientation on lnterreligious Dialogue and
the Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; available at
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_19051991_dialogue-and-proclamatio_en.html.

Maura Hearden (Roman Catholic) has a B.S. from the University of
Wisconsin, Stevens Point; an M.F.A. from the University of Florida,
Gainesville; and an M.A. in theology and a Ph.D. in religious studies
(2008), specializing in systematic theology, from Marquette University,
Milwaukee, WI. Since 2008, she has been an assistant professor of
theology at DeSales University, Center Valley, PA. At Marquette and the
University of Florida, she was a graduate teaching assistant. Her
articles have appeared in Spiritual Lift (Summer, 2003), J.E.S. (Winter,
2004), American Catholic Studies (Fall, 2005), and Pro Ecclesia (Winter,
2010). With V. Kimball, she edited and contributed articles to Mary, for
the Love and Glory of Gnd: Essays on Mary and Ecumenism (Ecumenical
Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through AuthorHouse, 2011); and
Mary, God-Bearer to a World in Need, forthcoming from Pickwick
Publications. She has also presented papers to several academic
conferences, most recently at the International Pontifical Marian
Academy in Rome, and has spoken before numerous parish and campus
groups.

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